Tonight Stardust will be returning a sample of particles collected from a comet.
NASA is asking for participation from people to help observe Stardust's descent.
"If somebody could see that line, that would be fantastic, because it would tell us how much carbon is being lost by the heat shield at that moment," observed Jenniskens. "It would be better yet if several observers at different locations were to videotape the entry of the capsule appearing in front of the moon because then we could trace the ablation of the carbon along the capsule's trajectory, especially at locations between Carlin and Elko," he added. Videographers should fix the focus of their cameras at 'infinity,' because auto focus may be unreliable for nighttime recording, according to mission technicians.
The best way to see the capsule pass in front of the moon would be with a large telescope at high magnification, according to Jenniskens. Due to the long viewing distances, the tiny capsule will appear as a dark dot, only 1-2 arcseconds across, but darker if the capsule is clearly visible. One arcsecond is 1/3600th of a degree.
Moving at many times the speed of sound, the capsule will take only two to three video frames to appear to pass by the moon.
In addition, once Stardust lands, people can help analyze the stardust with Stardust@Home
--------
Leave a comment